Sheremetyev Osip Valeryevich

Sheremetyev Osip Valeryevich (1888-1934) was a Crimean Tatar politician who was the Chairman of the Meiji Crimian Tatars from 1922 to his death.

Biography
Valeryevich was of half Russian and half Crimean Tatar descent, and was born in Simferopol in the Province of Crimea & Ukraine in the Russian Empire. In 1905 Valeryevich was drafted into the Russian Army at the age of 17 and was involved in the suppression of the 1905 Revolution in Odessa, and in World War I served as a Major in the 8th Army in the Ukraine.

After the 1917 Russian Revolution, Valeryevich was a supporter of the Red Army, because many Tatars chose to side with the rebels against the anti-Tatar tsarist sentiment. The role of Valeryevich in the Russian Civil War mainly involved organizing the Tatar alliance with the Bolshevik Party, although he also did some fighting. In 1921 he led the Crimean Tatars in the campaign against the White Army, and by the end of the year they were forced to retreat to Constantinople, virtually ending the civil war.

Valeryevich was made the Chairman of the Crimean Tatars after the foundation of the Soviet Union, and he represented them in the government. Fighting for their rights, he was opposed to the collectivism of Josef Stalin, claiming that it ruined "Russia's breadbasket". In 1934, Valeryevich was one of 2 million Bolsheviks to be executed for either anti-Stalin sentiment, too much power, or simply concerns that they were able to betray him. Valeryevich was executed by firing squad in Kerch.